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Whether it’s a Norris Trophy-winning defenceman like P.K. Subban sticking up to a player like Milan Lucic, a Hart Trophy-winning player like Evgeni Malkin jumping in on Dion Phaneuf, or a projected top NHL draft pick like Conor McDavid dropping the gloves, we’ve seen a slew of star players getting their noses dirty this week.

Don Cherry isn’t a fan of this trend, especially after seeing McDavid break a bone in his hand.

“I don’t want him fighting,” Cherry said Saturday on Coach’s Corner. “I’m not saying he shouldn’t have, but I don’t want him fighting. You never want a guy like that fighting.”

“Now we have in the National Hockey League…we’ve got the stars fighting. It doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s all wrong. We don’t have the enforcers because of the stupid instigator rule.”

Cherry added that he and others have noticed a rise in players taking liberties because they don’t have to pay the price.

“Now we have cheap shots because, as Grant Fuhr said, guys can do this because they’re not being paid back,” Cherry said. “Fuhr says it was better when the guys policed themselves and not some guy in a boardroom.”

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